Inconsistent Working Time Laws

21-09-2007

EU requirements on daily driving time and rest periods for truck drivers were first laid down in a 1985 Council Regulation. But when the Working Time Directive was adopted in 1993 - covering all economic sectors - it soon emerged that both laws' prescriptions on driving and rest periods for professional drivers interfered with one another.

A June 2000 amending directive sought to resolve this, stipulating that the working time directive's requirements on daily rest, breaks, weekly rest periods, maximum weekly working time and length of night shifts shall not apply to "mobile workers", i.e. truck drivers. The directive also stipulated, however, that member states shall take "the necessary measures to ensure that such mobile workers are entitled to adequate rest".

Six years later, in March 2006, a new legislative package (consisting of a Regulation and a Directive) was passed, setting out minimum requirements for social legislation relating to road transport. The package was adopted after lengthy discussions, including a conciliation procedure, between the European Parliament and the Council.

Issues

In April 2007, the new directive and regulation entered into force, setting out new driving and rest time rules for truck drivers across the 27-member bloc. The new package was meant to "update, clarify and simplify" EU legislation for drivers and promote "improved working practices in the road transport industry". But it soon came under fire from trade unions and employers alike, who joined forces to condemn its inconsistencies.

In a joint position , the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) said "many articles of the Regulation [561/2006/EC] remain unclear and could lead to different interpretations between member states".

They urged the Commission and the member states to come up with clarifications in order to "minimise (...) the potential for unintentional infringements and unnecessary fines by international operators and drivers".

Some of the inconsistencies concern:

• Driving time: The Regulation stipulates that
  
  
  • daily driving time shall not exceed 9 hours;
  • that it may, however, be extended to at most 10 hours not more than twice a week;
  • that the weekly driving time shall not exceed 56 hours, and;
  • that the total accumulated driving time during any two consecutive weeks shall not exceed 90 hours.
    
    
• Breaks: According to the Regulation, a driver shall take either
  
  
  • an uninterrupted break of not less than 45 minutes, after a driving period of four and a half hours, or;
  • a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes, each distributed over the four-and-a-half hour period.
    
    
• Rest periods while on duty: working time or break?
  
  The IRU and ETF say ambiguities exist with respect to the definition of a break and for instance whether time spent resting while a second driver is at the wheel should be considered a break (so-called double-manned operation). Both groups agreed that this should indeed be the case, and that further legal clarification there was needed.
  
  Moreover, time spent in a ship bunk or a train couchette may be counted as rest period under the Regulation, in contradiction with the Working Time Directive, according to which all travelling time must be counted as a "period of availability" and therefore included.
  
  The Regulation also stipulates that drivers shall take daily and weekly rest periods. However, complicated rules on when rest periods must be taken prove a challenge for drivers and conveyance schedulers, the groups claimed.
  
  
• Motorway rest facilities: too few and filthy
  
  Drivers spend a great deal of their time in car parks and motorway service areas. But the quality of these places is criticised by unions who say they are too few, ill-suited to their needs and lack the necessary hygiene facilities and standards.
  
  
• Roadside violence and crime
  
  According to the ETF and IRU, violent crime is "a growing roadside problem" with an increasing number of drivers being assaulted and goods being stolen. They urge the Commission to take these criteria into account in the design and co-financing of Trans-European Transport Networks.

The two groups called on the Commission and EU member states to carry out this systematic clarification work as quickly as possible and ensure its practical application in EU road transport enforcement.

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